HOLLAND -- Ben Stein, whose varied credits include
presidential speech writer, lawyer, columnist, novelist,
actor and game show host, will speak through the Hope
College Student Speaker Series on Wednesday, April 10, at 7
p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

In 1973 and 1974, Stein was a speech writer and
lawyer for Richard Nixon at the White House and then for
Gerald Ford.

He has been a columnist and editorial writer for
"The Wall Street Journal," a syndicated columnist for "The
Lost Angeles Herald Examiner" and King Features Syndicate,
and a frequent contributor to "Barron," where his articles
about the ethics of management buyouts and issues of fraud
in the Milken Drexel junk bond scheme drew major national
attention. He has been a regular columnist for "Los Angeles
Magazine," "New York Magazine" and "E! Online," and has
written a lengthy diary for 10 years for "The American
Spectator."

Stein has written seven novels, largely about life
in Los Angeles. His nine non-fiction books primarily
concern finance, ethical and social issues in finance, and
the political and social content of mass culture, although
his most recent is about life with his 11-year-old son. His
titles include "A License to Steal: The Untold Story of
Michael Milken and the Conspiracy to Bilk the Nation," "The
View from Sunset Boulevard: America as Brought to You by
the People Who Make Television," "Hollywood Days, Hollywood
Nights: The Diary of a Mad Screenwriter," "DREEMZ,"
"Financial Passages," "Ludes" and "Tommy & Me: The Making
of a Dad."

He is also a well-known actor in movies,
television and commercials. His many film roles include the
boring teacher in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"; his many
television appearances include "The Wonder Years" and
"Seinfeld"; he has voiced animated programs including
"Duckman" and "Rugrats." Starting in July of 1997, he has
been the host of the Comedy Central quiz show "Win Ben
Stein's Money," and he is also the host of his own talk
show, "Turn Ben Stein On." He is at work on a new show for
Comedy Central.

Stein, 57, is the son of the economist and writer
Herbert Stein, and grew up in Silver Spring, Md. He
graduated from Columbia University in 1966 with honors in
economics, and graduated from Yale Law School in 1970 as
valedictorian of his class, elected by his classmates. He
helped to found the "Journal of Law and Social Policy" while
at Yale.

He has worked as a poverty lawyer in New Haven and
Washington, D.C., and a trial lawyer in the field of trade
regulation at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington,
D.C.

Stein was a university adjunct at American
University in Washington, D.C., where he taught about the
political and social content of mass culture. He taught the
same subject at the University of California at Santa Cruz,
as well as about political and civil rights under the U.S.
Constitution. At Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.,
he has taught about libel law and about securities law and
ethical issues since 1986.

Stein's visit is being sponsored by the college's
Student Congress, and supported through other Hope student
organizations and departments including the Hope Democrats,
the Hope Republicans, the President's Office and the
Provost's Office.

The Student Speaker Series debuted with author
Alex Haley on Jan. 30, 1992. Others featured through the
years have included actor Danny Glover and actor/director
Felix Justice; comedian and talk show host Bertice Berry;
author James Malinchak; former principal Joe Clark,
inspiration for the film "Lean on Me"; attorney Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. on environmental issues; and writer Maya
Angelou.